Glasgow has reported its busiest November in 50 years after 666,338 passengers travelled through the airport’s doors last month, representing an annual increase of 7.7%.

International traffic was up 14.9% on last year due to increased demand for winter sun destinations on Ryanair and Jet2 routes. EU scheduled services were up by 25% and there was a significant increase in traffic on Emirates and Virgin long-haul routes.

Domestic traffic in November increased by 2.2% thanks to strong demand from both business and leisure travellers on London services, which included the mobilisation of thousands of Tartan Army fans travelling to Scotland’s World Cup 2018 qualifier against England at Wembley.

Regional traffic was also boosted by strong performance from easyJet, Flybe and Loganair, while Celtic’s Champions League tie against Barcelona and Braehead’s hosting of the European Curling Championships helped boost visitor numbers.

Amanda McMillan, managing director at Glasgow Airport, said: “November was yet another record-breaking month and it has put us on course to close out what has been an extraordinary year for Glasgow Airport by carrying more than nine million passengers for the first time in our history.
“So far we have recorded our best-ever passenger numbers in each month of our 50th anniversary year, which is a remarkable achievement.

“Our efforts in attracting more than 20 new routes and services have been key to our success this year. We also consolidated our position as Scotland’s leading long-haul airport while simultaneously strengthening our European network of services.

“December’s passenger numbers look promising and it’s very likely that we’ll make it 12 record months this year.

“The 2016 ski programme is our biggest to date and includes two new Jet2 routes to Geneva and Grenoble later this month, ensuring we’re in an extremely strong position for the year ahead.”

Winter sun options from Glasgow Airport have been significantly increased with the introduction of four new Ryanair services to Alicante, Malaga, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, while Loganair’s new summer 2017 schedule will also include a new twice-weekly service to Bergen, Norway.